1 THE BEST SKINCARE LOOKS LIKE THIS
● CLEANSE THOROUGHLY, BUT GENTLY. If you’re wearing make-up and sunscreen, you may want to use two different products, such as a cleansing oil and a wash-off cleanser, to be really thorough. I like Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, £8.99, Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm, £40, any of the La Roche-posay cleansers, from £11 each, and Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, from £9.
● TRY AN ACID PEEL PAD, TONER OR SERUM FOR FRESH, YOUTHFUL-LOOKING SKIN. Glycolic acid is a great ingredient for exfoliating – and so brightening the skin and improving texture – as well as stimulating collagen. Pixi Glow Peel Pads, £24, have a cult following. Wipe them on every day, leave for two to three minutes (it will tingle), then rinse. I also like Avon Anew Clinical Advanced Resurfacing Peel, £15. If pads aren’t your thing, Skin Laundry Restoring Night Serum, £44, is a good buy, as is Vichy Idéalia Peeling, £30.
● USE A MOISTURISER OR SERUM WITH RETINOIDS. These are vitamin A derivatives, which have long been proven to hamper collagen breakdown, tackle brown spots, thicken the skin after initial peeling and redness, and increase skin cell turnover (Environ and Alumier, both from aestheticians, have differing strengths to ease you through potential irritation.) La Roche-posay Redermic R Anti-wrinkle Treatment and UV SPF30, both £29.50, are good if you found retinoids irritating in the past and so gave up using them. However, some people really can’t metabolise the retinoic acid these ingredients convert to when they contact the skin. It’s a genetic thing, and unless you have a genetic test that shows this variant, it’s only through trial and error that you’ll learn retinoids
don’t do much for you.
● WEAR SUNSCREEN DAILY. Period. UV light is the biggest skin ager.